Winter Blues Remedies

Hey there RYPEness!

Old Man Winter has a grip on us, doesn’t he? Man…and he ain’t letting up either. These desperate times call for desperate measures when it comes to staying on your workout schedule. I was combing the internet trying to find some cool workouts to do that add variety and fun, especially since we are mostly confined to the indoors. Unless you are one of “them”, who bundles up in the best cold weather gear and heads out to do a run or a ride in sub 35 degree weather. Nope. Not me. A lot of these were pretty cool so I thought I would share a few that I am going to try:

1. Treadmill Hiking Sprints

I read this exercise and thought WELL DAYUM! Total leg-focused, strength building workout. Hop onto the treadmill, and after a brief warm-up, immediately speed up to a brisk walking pace. Here’s the kicker: now bring the incline up to somewhere between 9.0 and 12.0 percent. Try to stay on that belt for 5 minutes. Your recovery from this hike is going to be a run. Bring the incline down to 1.0, and pick up a light jogging base, about 55-65% intensity. After 5 minutes, crank yourself back up to your uphill hike. Go back and forth for the time length of your workout, preferably 30-60 minutes.

2. Swim/Spin Brick

Here is a great pool and indoor-based session. Do a short warm-up, then swim at maximum sustainable pace for 20-30 minutes. Schedule your swim to end just 5-10 minutes before the spin class at a gym. After you finish your swim, hop out and quickly make your way to spin class. Depending on your instructor you might want to kill them, but this is a great brick workout that will keep you on pace for an early spring tri.

3. Cartlek Run

LOL! When I read this one I thought, “what??” This workout is for that person who just might venture out, but is just a little tired of predictable intervals. So with this workout, you have no idea when it might be time to pick up the pace. Now for those of you who don’t know, Fartlek is a term that refers to random speed training. Cartlek is this trafficked road version. Here’s how it works: Settle into an aerobic pace, at about 55-65% intensity. Every time a car passes you *from behind*, you must pick up the pace to a comfortable but fast run at about 85% for 100 steps. If a “string” of cars passes, then you begin your 85% stride after the last car goes by. If a car passes you during those 100 steps, you pick up the pace to maximum 100% for however many steps you have left. Once you’re done with the 100 step stride, you can settle in until the next car approaches. This triathlon workout is basically Fartlek training with an unpredictable twist.

4. Aqua Bursts

Back to the pool we go, but you don’t really have to get your hair wet for this one ladies!! This run sprint workout will allow you to truly achieve maximum running speed form with a low risk of injury. Find one of those flotation belts at the pool. If you don’t have one, and sporting goods store that carries swim accessories should carry them. Once you’re wearing the flotation belt, hop into the pool start aqua jogging as soon as the water is too deep to touch. Lean forward and drive from the hips, jogging in the water down to about the midway point of the lane of a 25m pool. This is going to be your starting point for this run workout. Giving yourself a highly motivated “Ready, Set, Go!”, burst sprint as hard as possible to the wall 12.5 meters away (running, not swimming), then jog back to your starting point for recovery. The idea behind sprinting is that quick bursts can improve endurance just as much as a long run. And being in the water gives us no impact.

Not wanting to swim, bike (spin) or run (treadmill), but you still want to do a triathlon workout? Here’s a quick workout that will trigger your triathlon muscles without actually doing a triathlon. You’ll need an elastic band, which you can find at just about any sporting goods store. Attach it to a stationary object in your home or office or wherever, and do alternating arm pulls while kneeling or standing. Keep the elbows high, just like swimming and do as many as you can in one minute. Then switch to lunge jumps or lunges for another minute, in which you bend the front knee to at least 90 degrees, so that you work the cycling muscles. Finish with jumping jacks for 1 minute. If you have time, repeat the workout anywhere from 2-5x through.

BAM! There it is. A few good exercises that keep us in doors (well except for one) and engaged! We wont let no stinkin’ snow and cold slow our roll. We TRI at all times!! 🙂